Funding arrangements

The Global Lung Cancer Coalition (GLCC) welcomes corporate donations, grants and sponsorship to fund certain projects and to enable the Coalition to grow and develop.

This document outlines GLCC’s policy on commercial funding and provides a set of principles that will be used to guide GLCC’s decisions. It does not set out to provide a definition of every possible funding opportunity. This policy will apply to all potential relations with any company from any industry.

This policy is based on the UK Breast Cancer Coalition’s Policy Paper on Funding Arrangements with Commercial/Corporate Organisations, EURORDIS’s policy on corporate sponsorship, the European Cancer Patient Coalition’s policy and the recommendations of the UK’s Long Term Medical Conditions Alliance.

Purpose of Policy

To ensure that GLCC has a consistent and transparent approach to working with commercial companies

To ensure the Coalition maintains its independence from commercial influences

To clarify GLCC's position to its member organisations, commercial companies and the wider public

To provide clear direction for the Coalition's Steering Group Members, enabling them to instigate relations with commercial companies with the full backing of the Coalition, but without the constant need for approval from all of its members

GLCC’s Steering Group Members are expected to adhere to the policy that may be revised over time as circumstances demand.

Funding: Categories

Sustaining Partners

GLCC Sustaining Partners are commercial companies that want to establish a long-term relationship with the Coalition and wish to demonstrate their commitment to lung cancer patients by helping GLCC promote global understanding of the burden of lung cancer and the right of patients to effective early detection, better treatment and supportive care.

A Sustaining Partner that donates a grant of £30,000 or more per year receives:

Recognition as a Sustaining Partner on the GLCC Web-site

Link from GLCC web-site to your corporate web-site

Opportunity to meet the GLCC leadership at an annual patient-industry summit to discuss issues of concern to both commercial organisations and cancer patients

Opportunity to propose collaborative projects which will have priority status over those proposed by non-Sustaining Partners

Regular e-mail updates on GLCC’s activities

Funding: Guiding Principles

GLCC will foster dialogue, and establish collaborative partnerships, with the many companies whose commercial decisions affect the chance of survival and quality of life of lung cancer patients. Patient organisation-pharmaceutical company partnerships are sometimes viewed with scepticism by decision-makers and the general public. Some believe that pharmaceutical companies coerce patient organisations into conforming to their marketing agenda. In order to protect the Coalition’s reputation and demonstrate that GLCC does not conform to commercial agendas, the Coalition will adhere to the following principles when accepting or soliciting or accepting project funding, sponsorship, grants or donations from commercial companies:

GLCC will maintain an open and transparent relationship with all commercial partners

Before accepting funding from a commercial company the Steering Group must be satisfied that:

There are strong grounds for believing the donation, grant or sponsorship will result in benefit to the Coalition and its members

No adverse publicity will result from accepting the funds

GLCC will closely review all potential commercial partners’ corporate governance policies, their reputation in working with patient organisations and their environmental policies and practices. If there is any cause for concern, funds will either be accepted on a ‘no acknowledgment’ basis or the Coalition will reject the funds

GLCC will not knowingly accept any type of funding from a company that produces or sells tobacco brands, or receives funding from their sales

GLCC will not endorse or promote individual products or services

A company's support will be acknowledged in an appropriate way following discussions with the company concerned

GLCC commercial partners must agree to abide with the guidelines outlined in Appendix 1 below

If a company makes any attempt to coerce the Coalition to conform to its marketing agenda, either explicitly or implicitly, or does not conform to the memorandum of agreement, GLCC will reject the funds or terminate an on-going project

Where possible, GLCC will solicit funding from consortia composed of two or more companies from the same industry.

Appendix 1

GUIDELINES FOR COMMERCIAL COMPANIES ON WORKING WITH GLCC

The Coalition will not embark upon or continue with any sponsorship, grant making or collaborative venture that might damage its reputation or result in the dissemination of biased and inaccurate information to the general public and cancer patients. Therefore, when working with the Coalition, commercial companies should adhere to the following guidelines: ­

The Coalition must be consulted whenever and wherever its name is used, particularly in external communications. Approval must be sought for any copy produced which refers to a Coalition initiative supported by a commercial organisation.

At no time can the Coalition's logo be used without express written permission.

At no time can press releases be issued which refer to the Coalition without our prior approval. Likewise suggested quotes can be prepared but must always be agreed by the Steering Group.

The Coalition retains a veto over all materials produced in connection with an initiative. Adequate approval time needs to be allowed for this as it may require approval from one or more Steering Group Members.

Where more than one branded version of a product exists, any materials produced, as part of an initiative will use either the scientific name or several different brand names. It may not be practicable to mention every brand at every stage in a publication but overall the effect will be one of impartiality.

The Coalition is happy to work with PR/advertising and marketing agencies of commercial organisations once a project is underway. However, in the first instance, when a project is being planned or suggested, the Coalition requires a representative from the company to be present as well as the agency.

One point of contact should be identified within the company and/or agency to liaise with the appropriate opposite number in the Coalition. Clear lines of communication need to be established at an early stage with respective responsibilities and assignments agreed to ensure smooth progress with a project.

Sustaining Partners 2016

AstraZeneca

Boehringer Ingelheim

Bristol Myers Squibb

Eli Lilly

Merck

Novartis

Pfizer

Roche

The Global e-Atlas is our interactive summary of global lung cancer rates, survival and treatment around the world.